Customer Reviews

Eat Smart in Sicily: How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure (Eat Smart in Sicily: How to Decipher the Menu, ... to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods)

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

If the recipes and color photos in "Eat Smart in Sicily" don't get you looking at possible airfares to Sicily for a gourmet eating holiday, nothing will.

This latest in the "Eat Smart" series features a photo spread of dishes incorporating fish, eggplant, saffron and beef, as well as concoctions such as a beautifully textured Eastern lamb made of marzipan.

Recipes tell how to make fried artichoke leaves, orange-flavored pork, stuffed mahi-mahi rolls, and Arab-influenced dishes including couscous with fish. Another recipe I plan to try at home is a pasta dish dressed with a pesto of pistachios, almonds and basil -- it's got to be delectable.

At minimum, "Eat Smart in Sicily" will get readers into the kitchen and trying to recreate their own taste of Sicily or visiting Italian restaurants specializing in Sicilian food as well as the more prevalent styles found in U.S. restaurants, based on the cuisines of Naples, Tuscany, Bologna and Florence.

As with others in the "Eat Smart" series, "... in Sicily" is handsomely illustrated and meticulously researched, with a history of the Mediterranean island as it relates to food, noting the contributions of Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Norman French and others.

A chapter on local foods notes the lack historically of meat proteins on the island, the Sicilian interest in wild vegetables, and the local quality of citrus fruits and passion for gelati, now nearly as popular in the United States.

Joan Peterson of Madison, Wisc., the driving force behind other "Eat Smart" guides to Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, India, Peru and other good-eating destinations, joined forces with Sicilian native Marcella Croce for this latest entry in the series. Let's hope that it makes its way in many suitcases and backpacks belonging to travelers headed to this world crossroads of history and food.

I bought this book because of the five-star reviews it's gotten. What a disappointment! The coverage is superficial; the recipes don't mention ingredients in the list; the prose is simpleminded. The author has written eight other guides in the series, but it seems as if this book is the result of a whirlwind tour. It reads more like an expanded, hastily-done magazine article, with only a few pages on each of the regions and their specialties. A good guidebook's food section would be a better value; Sicily deserves better! Mary Taylor Simeti's POMP AND SUSTENANCE is far preferable to this.

Joan Peterson has now authored and/or co-authored nine superbly crafted and incredible informative travel guides with a distinctive culinary orientation. The newest addition to her impressive roster of titles is "Eat Smart In Sicily: How To Decipher The Menu, Know The Market Foods & Embark On A Tasting Adventure" which she co-authored with Sicilian native, journalist and author Marcella Croce. Enhanced for the armchair browser with a section of color photography showcasing dishes, foods, and chefs, "Eat Smart In Sicily" truly lives up to its name and the sterling reputation of the entire 'Eat Smart' series. Along with an historical overview focused on the origins of Sicily's culinary diversity and a quick tour of local Sicilian foods and their variations, travelers are providing with invaluable tips for shopping in both the Sicilian open air food markets as well as their modern supermarkets. With the inclusion of resource lists, helpful phrases, a menu guide, recommended restaurants, and even a thoroughly 'user friendly' Menu Guide, "Eat Smart In Sicily" is a 'must' for anyone traveling there for either business or pleasure or both!

I've been to Sicily four times in the past two years. It is a fabulous place to visit. This book is very helpful if you want to eat well and drink well and know what to order.

by Sharon Hudgins, author of The Other Side of Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East

Joan Peterson has done it again! Teaming up with Sicilian food expert, Marcella Croce, Ms. Peterson has produced another book in her excellent, well written, and informative "Eat Smart" series. This latest edition, "Eat Smart in Sicily" makes you want to reserve a flight to Sicily on the next plane. Following the format of the series, this latest work begins with a historical survey of Sicilian cuisine, from the Greek, Roman, and Arab influences to the Norman and Spanish rulers of this large island that belongs to Italy today. Since Sicily was a crossroad of many cultures, its cuisine reflects the tastes of a variety of people who have landed and lived on its shores.

The section on "Local Sicilian Food" describes the primary ingredients used in Sicilian cooking, followed by a description of the characteristic foods and special dishes of the different provinces of the island. A chapter on "Tastes of Sicily" provides 28 detailed, accurate recipes for Sicilian dishes, from antipasti to desserts.

The second half of the book is a practical guide for travelers to Sicily, with helpful phrases, a menu guide arranged alphabetically (with recommendations for which dishes are classics, local favorites, highly recommended, etc.), and an alphabetical foods-and-flavors guide where you can look up the English-language translations of Sicilian food terms. Eight pages of color photos of Sicilian dishes will make you understand why the authors of this culinary guidebook are so enthusiastic about the island's cuisine.

Highly recommended (along with all the other books in this series)!